01242020 BUSINESS

business@tribunemedia.net

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

$4.62 Sixty percent of firms say workforce ‘uncompetitive’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net SOME 60 percent of Bahamian companies view the country’s workforce as “globally uncompetitive”, with a labour specialist affirming yesterday: “Everyone admits we have a challenge.”

Peter Goudie, the National Tripartite Council’s vice-chairman, said the latest data on workforce “skills gaps” had “opened the dialogue” and brought together public and private sector stakeholders seeking to alter trends that have endured for decades.

He spoke out after the latest survey results, unveiled at a Town Hall meeting hosted by the Bahamas Technical & Vocational Institute (BTVI) in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Nassau Sunrise, confirmed that there has been little improvement when it comes to employers finding an adequate supply of trained workers with the

PETER GOUDIE skills they desire.

The survey, which received 155 responses from Bahamian companies, found that more than 40 percent of respondents were unable to “consistently recruit local employees that meet our needs”.

And another 65 percent of Bahamian businesses said finding workers equipped with the necessary literacy and numeracy skills was “a significant challenge in hiring”. Respondents said “under-qualified” applicants were the main challenge they faced when trying to recruit,

SEE PAGE 6

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GB airport in ‘$1 each’ proposal

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A

PROPOSAL has been made for the government to acquire Grand Bahama International Airport by paying its existing owners $1 each then assume responsibility for its multi-million dollar rebuilding.

Well-placed Tribune Business sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, yesterday said confirmation of an agreement with Hutchison Whampoa and the

• Proposal on table to Hutchison/GBPA • Govt would be responsible for rebuild • Minister: Deal still being negotiated Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) could come as early as next week amid increasing concern over the the vital infrastructure asset’s fate.

Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, declined to comment on the “$1 each” proposal when contacted last night by Tribune Business. He confirmed, though, that the government

is “negotiating a deal” with the airport’s existing ownership duo although nothing had been agreed yet.

“The government is exploring its options,” the minister reaffirmed. “Offers are made, and they’re received, considered and responded to. There’s nothing signed, there’s no deal yet, but the process continues.

“When you have the ink

on the paper is when you talk about the deal. It’s not healthy to talk about the negotiating process in the public domain until there’s a deal. Do we have a deal? No. Are we negotiating a deal?

Yes. When do we expect a deal to be done? In the quickest possible time.”

One source familiar with

SEE PAGE 5

Bahamas back as ‘least corrupt in the Caribbean’ Caribbean rating agency entering Bahamas market

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A CARIBBEAN rating agency yesterday voiced optimism it can help Bahamian debt issuers raise capital at lower costs after being approved to offer its services in this nation.

Wayne Dass, Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Limited (CariCRIS) chief executive, told Tribune Business that the go-ahead from the Central Bank would enable it to fill a long-standing gap in the

Bahamian capital markets caused by the absence of a local credit rating agency.

CariCRIS approval as an eligible External Credit Assessment Institution (ECAI) in The Bahamas gives it the ability to rate the creditworthiness of companies, public sector agencies and their bond/debt securities issues - a service that local investors have never had access to when it comes to the domestic capital markets.

Mr Dass said the rating

SEE PAGE 5

Bahamas must be an ‘Atlantic tiger’ over arbitration

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas must become the “Atlantic tiger” in arbitration and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) rather than staying a “Caribbean pussy cat”, a former Bar Association chief urged yesterday.

Dr Peter Maynard, managing partner of Peter D Maynard & Co, said of next Friday’s eighth annual Arbitration & Investment Summit: “Hopefully all of the interests that are quite prominent in the field will

come together under this centre, because the Bahamas can become an Atlantic Tiger rather than a Caribbean pussy cat.”

Recalling how the conference started, Dr Maynard added: “We were advocating for more widespread use of ADR (alternative dispute resolution), in particular arbitration. The basic premise is we need to be speaking to one another more rather than resorting to angry words or to violence. That’s the basic concept of ADR.” Arguing that ADR and

SEE PAGE 6

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By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas yesterday regained its status as the least corrupt country in the Caribbean despite governance reform activists arguing that this “does not tell the full picture” on widespread graft.

Matt Aubry, the Organisation for Responsible Governance’s (ORG) executive director, joined Lemarque Campbell, a Bahamian anti-corruption activist, in warning that Transparency International’s latest global Corruption Perceptions Index did not measure how effectively this nation is using/enforcing the relevant laws.

The duo spoke out after The Bahamas retained its 29th spot out of 180 countries despite its total “score”

• But ‘doesn’t tell full picture’, activists argue • Transparency Int’l not looking at enforcement • Argue: ‘Corruption is embedded in region’

MATT AUBRY

LEMARQUE CAMPBELL

falling by one notch to 64.

This marks the continuation of a gradual decline seen since 2016, when The Bahamas scored 66, but it finished one spot ahead of its nearest Caribbean challenger - Barbados - in the 2019 rankings after that country fell several places.

However, The Bahamas’ seemingly improved standing comes just four months after the same Transparency International found The Bahamas leads the Latin American and Caribbean region for paying “bribes of convenience” to public officials so that “things are done

more quickly or better”.

The same organisation’s Global Corruption Barometer study of the region provided a damning indictment of the civil service by disclosing that 41 percent of Bahamians surveyed admitted to making such under-the-table payments to ensure they could access public services, while another 52 percent said the government was “doing badly” in the battle against corruption and graft.

Messrs Aubry and Campbell yesterday argued that the annual Corruption Perceptions Index needed to be

SEE PAGE 4

PAGE 2, Friday, January 24, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

THE 20 AREAS WHICH LEADERS MUST IMPACT

R

ESEARCH suggests that business success rests on impactful leadership. Leadership at all levels requires skill, passion and will. We now focus our attention on 20 competencies that 2020’s leaders must exhibit all year long in this first of a two-part series.

Here are the first ten competencies: 1. Focus on Goals. Leaders who succeed are those who plan and chart the course for success. Winning never happens by happenstance. There are always deliberate and strategic moves being made to accomplish greatness.

2. Focus on Relationship Management. How we treat

people as leaders matters.

Maya Angelo says it well: ‘People will always remember how you made them feel’. Lousy managers use intimidation tactics, insults and deceitful behaviour (sometimes under the guise of development and mentorship) towards their team members.

3. Focus on solutions.

Problem resolution is perhaps one of the most powerful tools a leader can have in their arsenal. Every human being is created to solve a problem, and every manager is anointed to empower their team to collectively solve big problems.

4. Focus on managing change. Any leader not comfortable with change is not a leader at all. Twenty-first

century leaders must champion the change happening all around them. Embrace it, and convince others around to do as well.

5. Focus on accountability.

Holding people to standards can sometimes pose a great challenge in leadership.

Developing strong instruments through well-crafted and administered performance management systems is one way to get the ball rolling.

6. Driving vision towards tangible results. The leader must be driven by a solid core that speaks of where the company is going and how you propose for them to get there. Helping employees see the big picture and how they contribute to that end result is

the task of every successful manager.

7. Focus on workplace climate. The relationships between employer and employees and the relationship between employees and their work assignment should never be taken for granted. Follow closely with measurement instruments how your employees feel about their peers, their work and the company as a whole.

8. Focus on nurturing employee talent. One of the first responsibilities a leader has is to identify talent and then develop it. Training and development of staff must become second nature for leaders of high impact.

9. Focus on effective communication.

Most organisations have this

MINISTER HAILS 7.216M TOURISM ARRIVALS RECORD

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A CABINET minister yesterday hailed The Bahamas’ record 7.216m visitor arrivals in 2019 as another “very impressive” sign of the industry’s post-Hurricane Dorian rebound.

Dionisio D’Aguilar, pictured, minister of tourism and aviation, paid tribute to the sector’s resilience while telling Tribune Business he had initially been “a little worried” that the storm would blow away his prediction that The Bahamas would beat the seven million arrivals mark. He suggested that around 50,000 stopover visitor arrivals may have been lost due to the devastation inflicted on Abaco.

Despite the loss of Abaco’s tourism product, and much of Grand Bahama’s, Mr D’Aguilar said total arrivals numbers had been boosted by a cruise industry

that is growing “by leaps and bounds” through the expansion of private island destinations such as Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day experience at Coco Cay and Mediterranean Shipping Company’s (MSC) redeveloped Ocean Cay. Voicing optimism that The Bahamas can match or exceed last year’s visitor arrivals total in 2020, he added that much depended on whether other Family Islands were able to attract the predominantly second home, vacation rental and marina business that typically goes to Abaco.

Mr D’Aguilar said The Bahamas was also prepared for any impact from the coronavirus, praising the Ministry of Health for “aggressively getting in front of this” amid fears that it could potentially spread worldwide.

“We beat the 7m mark for tourist arrivals for 2019,” he told this newspaper. “We

were very pleased with the numbers that came in, and they would have been considerably higher had we not been impacted by the storm and the negative publicity that followed. I was a little worried about how the storm would impact that. Stopovers were affected but the cruise industry kept churning.”

A total 1.78m stopover visitors, including 1.45m from the US, also visited The Bahamas in 2019. Besides The Bahamas’ proximity to the US and that nation’s continued economic expansion, the minister also attributed The Bahamas’ attractiveness to its ability to offer “interesting destinations that have a refreshed product with diverse experiences” throughout the nation.

Praising the Ministry of Tourism for “quite nicely turning around” the negative Dorian media coverage, he added: “We were down for two to three months after the storm, and to bounce back so swiftly was very impressive, very impressive indeed”.

Looking ahead to 2020, Mr D’Aguilar said: “We’ll have to see how significantly the loss of Abaco impacts our numbers going forward, and what percentage of those visitors decide to explore and visit other Family Island destinations.”

He acknowledged that the potential spread of the coronavirus represented a “potential shock that can impact tourism” by making persons reluctant to travel, but said: “I’m very encouraged that the Ministry of Health is being very aggressive in getting out in front of this, making sure they have protocols in place for anything that comes up in the destination.

“The one thing I’ve learned about being minister of tourism is that the tourism sector is susceptible to many shocks, and this is one of them - health, hurricanes, crime - but it has proven extremely resilient. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Are we prepared? Are we ready? Yes, God forbid that anything happens or comes of it.”

With 82 percent of The Bahamas’ visitors coming from the US, Mr D’Aguilar said the Ministry of Tourism had “roadshows” planned for Colorado and California to support new airlift out of Denver and broaden this nation’s reach to the US west coast.

“It’s organically grown, but there’s substantial interest on the West Coast and if we put additional marketing resources behind it we can provide a further boost,” Mr D’Aguilar said.

similar impediment-internal communication. The breakdown in communication usually occurs at the middle management level where insecurities, a lack of technical skills and egos get in the way of progress.

10. Focus on creating a culture of service excellence.

Driving a service culture is crucial in today’s business model. Leaders who understand service are nearly there. Leaders who expect service excellence from their team members are even closer. Leaders who model service excellence and teach others how to consistently exceed customer expectations are the keepers.

• NB: Ian R Ferguson is a talent management and organisational development

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consultant, having completed graduate studies with regional and international universities. He has served organsations, both locally and globally, providing relevant solutions to their business growth and development issues. He may be contacted at tcconsultants@ coralwave.com.

BREWERY OPENS EAST BAY LOCATION

BAHAMIAN Brewery and Beverage Company general manager, Gary Sands, and the staff of Jimmy’s Wines & Spirits’ new East Bay Street location welcome customers following a special event to mark its launch. Photos: Ronnie Archer/Barefoot Marketing THE Bahamian Brewery & Beverage Company (BBB) has opened its new eastern New Providence retail store to ensure customers still have access to its product line.

Gary Sands, the company’s general manager, said the latest Jimmy’s Wines & Spirits outlet - located just east of the Paradise Island bridges between Seafront Sushi and Harbourside Marine - has been open seven days per week since December.

“We closed our Shirley Street store late last year,” he said, “but wanted to ensure that our customers closer to the east still had easy access to our great line of products,” explained Mr Sands.

“I had the vision to open this new store before Christmas.

I pushed the team to make it happen, and I’m proud to say we were able to meet that goal and the store is doing well for us.”

Despite the absence of the brewery’s signature Sands brand, which remains out of production until late spring, each Jimmy’s location continues to offer products from the likes of AnheuserBusch and Philip Morris, as well as other leading brands

such as Tito’s, Macallan and Jackson Family Wines.

The Bahamian Brewery & Beverage Company has also been focusing on repairs to its operations in the northern Bahamas, restoring Jimmy’s Wines & Spirits locations in Grand Bahama and Abaco. “The Freeport store was completed in record time and re-opened on October 28. As it was a complete rebuild, we were able to double our wine section and streamline the purchase counters,” said Mr Sands.

“Although we wanted the Abaco store to open before the end of 2019, I am pleased to report it was finally opened last week January 17. We still had plywood for windows and doors, but that didn’t matter to the public who came out to support us in great numbers.

“We are back in the same Marsh Harbour location, but with an expanded wine section. We had a construction team staying on-site since November to get the job done, and they should be moved out by the weekend. This is keeping us on track for our 2020 goals... in the Abacos.”

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, January 24, 2020, PAGE 3

‘False sense of security’ over devaluation risks

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas would likely be forced to devalue its currency if a Hurricane Dorian-type storm made a direct hit on New Providence, an economic observer is arguing.

Dr Jonathan Rodgers, the well known eye-doctor, argued that the government and Bahamian public had a “false sense of security” over strength of the country’s fixed exchange rate regime and one:one peg with the Bahamian dollar, and said many of the conditions that would combine to cause a devaluation are in place.

Speaking on The end of exchange controls at a lecture hosted by the Nassau Institute on Wednesday evening, he said the conventional wisdom that there is no risk of devaluation for the Bahamian dollar is “absolute nonsense”.

Dr Rodgers added: “Our currency is overvalued; grossly overvalued. So

when you have an overvalued currency you tend to import more than you should and export less than you could. If it’s only worth 50 cents we couldn’t import all of the stuff that we import, yet if it’s only worth 50 cents there would be more tourists coming to The Bahamas.

“That’s why our trade deficit is so big. If you have a trade deficit it is directly related to the fiscal deficit and the private sector debt.

That’s why the national debt and private debt goes up every year because we consume more than we are producing, and you have to pay for it with borrowed monies. It’s all tied in.

“The government often has a false sense of security with this one:one peg, and that’s why they are having problems borrowing in US dollars. Our foreign currency debt is now is about 30 percent of our total national debt, and the problem with that is if you ever devalue then you get a balance sheet increase in the value of the

principal [debt owed].”

Dr Rodgers argued that The Bahamas was “set up” for a currency devaluation if it received a major external shock. “You have massive levels of private and public debt, a very high capital account deficit when it’s more than five percent of GDP, a lot of short-term debt, a lot of foreign debt and an overvalued currency,” he said.

“So let’s say the country has a lot of debt and a Dorian comes, and that Dorian knocks the hell out of New Providence instead of Abaco. So now you’re not generating any US dollars at all. So what happens to [foreign currency] reserves?

“They go downhill, and they go down below $750m, and then you have to devalue. That’s how it works. That’s how these pre-disposing risk factors work. You have a lot of debt, you have some externality that hits you that you have no control over whatsoever and, boom, you devalue. So we need to

relax exchange controls, or capital controls, and allow money to come into this country.”

Dr Rodgers said allowing large resorts such as Baha Mar and Atlantis to pay their staff in US dollars was one way to increase foreign currency inflows. A second, he added, would be to allow Bahamians to invest abroad, enabling them to generate inflows through “interest and dividends”.

He also argued that The Bahamas needs to “integrate the offshore banking sector with the domestic banking sector”, as “billions of dollars pass through the offshore banks” every year without touching the domestic economy.

“In The Bahamas today we have a liquidity trap of $1.5bn in the banking sector. It can’t get out of there because they won’t lend to anybody, and people are up to their heads in debt. So that means the flow goes down and the volume goes down,” he added.

Small business drive gains $600,000 boost

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net THE Small Business Development Centre (SBDC) has received a $600,000 grant funding boost for its mission to create and empower more Bahamian entrepreneurs.

K Peter Turnquest, deputy prime minister, hailed the funding from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB” as “a happy day” given that it will build capacity, and foster co-ordination, between stakeholders in the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) sector.

He added that the Government had wanted to create an initiative that will “provide capital to the most disadvantaged sectors of our economy”, and was not giving out “free money” in its attempt through the SBDC - to “spread the wealth” among a wider base of businesses and entrepreneurs.

Mr Turnquest said: “We are signing a technical co-operation agreement that will unlock $1.3m in resources.... This is going to help us to expand the work that the SBDC is involved in.”

Daniela Carrera Marquis, the IDB’s country representative, said the

Accelerate Bahamas project - for which The Bahamas is providing $710,000 in counterpart financing - is a technical cooperation effort designed “to improve the entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem in The Bahamas by increasing access to finance and advisory services among SMEs”.

It also involves the building of a financial technology (Fintech) platform to mobilise capital, and she added: “With this technical co-operation, IDB lab will provide $600,000 towards a $1.3m technical co-operation with the Small Business Development Centre in The Bahamas.

“This project will complement two other projects that the IDB is currently engaged in with the SBDC in The Bahamas. One of them is the bank’s credit enhancement facility for $25m, which will provide partial credit guarantees to eligible financial institutions for loans to be given to SMEs that are unable to meet the financing requirements from established financial institutions but have been advised by the SBDC. “It also builds on the technical co-operation agreement to build on the capacity of the SBDC; for it to be able to enhance its operational and fiduciary capabilities and be able

to manage its functions to better serve SMEs.” Ms Marquis added that the “principle constraints” to SME development in The Bahamas are “financing” and having an “adequately educated workforce for business growth”. She said: “We will support the [SBDC] in the role that they are providing as a key stakeholder in the provision of advisory services and capital support for businesses throughout the Bahamas,.

“It will also help to shape the entrepreneurial ecosystem based on the role that the SBDC is playing - and will continue to play - within the Bahamas. The project will support the access to finance for SMEs through the establishment of a Fintech platform that will allow or support the mobilisation of capital for SMEs at various stages of business development over their life cycle.

“The capacity to provide this Fintech platform will also enhance or leverage the credit enhancement facility that is available for the SBDC to mitigate some of the risks SME’s will have. It will be different from national institutions in that it will be a platform that allows for a more transparent and clear engagement between those that have the funding and those who need

this financing.”

Davinia Grant, the SBDC’s executive director, said the SBDC currently only has 20 advisors on staff to serve some 5,000 plus businesses already in their system. The grant, she added, will help build the SBDC’s capacity and expand its reach.

CORRECTION

DR JONATHAN RODGERS

TRIBUNE Business, in a January 23, 2020, article entitled Downtown chief pledges area’s transformation, reported that the Downtown Nassau Partnership’s (DNP) managing director, Ed Fields, would be leaving his post to join Global Ports Holding as an in-house consultant. This is incorrect, and the true position is that Mr Fields is not leaving the DNP.

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THE TRIBUNE

Bahamas back as ‘least corrupt in the Caribbean’ FROM PAGE ONE read alongside other material to place the rankings in their proper context, explaining that it only drew on 13 public information sources such as the World Bank and did not assess the effectiveness of a country’s anti-corruption regime in practice.

“We’re considered the least corrupt in the Caribbean, which is an interesting way to present it, but it [the index] doesn’t give the full picture,” Mr Aubry told this newspaper. “Regardless of our ranking it seems that this review indicates that little has changed from the perspective of an international standard. This is supported with the day to day experience of Bahamians.”

He said two regional civil society meetings he attended in late 2019, one organised by the World Bank and the other by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), both acknowledged “the Caribbean continues to struggle with corruption”.

“The topic kept coming back that corruption is embedded in the Caribbean,” the ORG executive added. “It’s embedded in the culture and it’s embedded in the governance system.

“A global report referencing where we fall is deceiving in some ways. It uses public data to say we have a Freedom of Information Act and Public Disclosures Act, but doesn’t tell the full picture of how they’re being used in way to combat and

reduce corruption.”

Citing the Freedom of Information Act as an example, Mr Aubry said while it had been passed

by Parliament it has yet to be enacted. Pointing to the regional barometer’s findings on “bribes of convenience”, he added: “That means corruption is not being driven by victimisation and threats to people’s family and property.

“It’s being driven by the belief this is what’s needed to make the system work.

People are paying bribes before they are asked as the solution to a dysfunctional and slow government system, and how it treats customers.

“That diminishes quality, productivity and efficiency, and adds further cost in terms of the public’s contribution for paying for government services. The micro corruptions such as paying ‘lunch money’ is the citizen’s solution as to how to navigate a slow and inefficient system.”

Mr Aubry warned that such practices frequently benefited the wealthy, and those with the right family and political connections, at the expense of lower income Bahamians. “If you think about a ‘pay to play’ environment it disproportionately favours those that have and taxes those that have the least,” he told Tribune Business.

“If there’s a system where you pay someone to move to the front of the line it works well for those who are paying, but for those that

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don’t they have to wait even longer. The Indisputable down side is that supporting such a system degrades the effectiveness of government, increases the cost and disproportionately impacts those that have the least. A ‘pay to play’ culture only benefits the ‘haves’ and ostracizes the ‘have nots’.”

The ORG executive director added that it also undermined civil service integrity as high-performing civil servants were not rewarded as handsomely as colleagues “on the take”, tempting more officials to engage in such practices.

He said, though, that Transparency International’s global index had reinforced the need to “keep money out of politics” through campaign finance laws, “so that those that have do not have undue influence on public policy”.

Mr Aubry also said experience had shown that countries which engaged in transparent public consultation were “less inclined to corruption” because there was “less opportunity for people to take advantage of public resources” because more persons were aware of what was happening.

Mr Campbell, meanwhile, said Transparency International’s global index only took into account perceptions of public sector corruption based on testimony from business executives and “country experts”. It does not account for the public’s experience.

While praising the Minnis administration for using technology-based reforms, such as online passport renewals, to reduce the opportunity for corruption, and the Fiscal Responsibility Council’s appointment in line with the legislation, he questioned whether the latter will be able to “fulfill its mandate” and have an influence on government policy.

And Mr Campbell said much work remained in other areas despite the

government’s successes.

Pointing to the Freedom of Information Act’s wait for full implementation, he added that its “whistleblower protection” component was “not adequate enough” and failed to detail how such persons will be safeguarded.

Pointing out that MPs were also failing to meet their obligations under the Public Disclosures Act, with their worth not disclosed annually in the Gazette, Mr Campbell added that it has now been 27 months (Mr Aubry said 850 days) since the Integrity Commission and Ombudsman Bills were tabled in Parliament but not debated or enacted.

“We still have a ways to go,” Mr Campbell told Tribune Business, as both himself and Mr Aubry urged Bahamians to take a hard look at themselves and do their part to stamp out corruption. “We still have many problem areas.

“A lot of it, it’s not just government. We have to look at us as citizens and how we are facilitating corruption. It comes down to us being responsible citizens as well. It’s a two-way street.

And it’s always a matter of enforcement for us in The Bahamas.

“You can’t come up with a figure for how much corruption is costing the Public Treasury, but it’s affecting the delivery of public services and corruption is a huge factor behind increased taxes.”

Mr Aubry added: “It still depends on public sentiment. They have to look at their own actions and how committed to change they are in the long-run.

Although it might be microcorruption: Lunch money, tip money, putting something in the bottom of the bag as they go through Customs, people being hired because of their political connections, it all goes to us paying more.”

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THE TRIBUNE

GB airport in ‘$1 each’ proposal FROM PAGE ONE

developments, speaking to this newspaper on condition of anonymity, said the Minnis administration had been left with little choice but to act rapidly given that the airport’s post-Dorian state threatened to sink the entire Freeport and Grand Bahama economy.

“I’m told the government have made a decision on the airport,” they said. “I expect they’re going to make a formal announcement on it.

There’s an offer where they would get it for $1 from both sides.”

Tribune Business was told that the ITM Group/Royal Caribbean joint venture’s demand for a government guarantee, or commitment, that Grand Bahama International Airport will be restored to internationally-accepted standards by the time its $275m investment opens had also forced the Minnis administration’s hand.

The source suggested the pressure from the Grand Lucayan’s prospective purchaser had been key, adding: “The most important thing is to get the hotel built. Thank God for that. Without the airport and Royal Caribbean we would be a village up here.

We could have been dead in the water, but now we might have a chance.”

Transactions where the purchaser pays a token sum and agrees to assume all the liabilities associated with an asset are not uncommon in the corporate world. They can often facilitate the exit of an eager seller, in this case the GBPA and Hutchison Whampoa, with the government taking over responsibility for a reconstruction effort that has previously been estimated at anywhere between $20m-$40m.

One unknown is the fate of any Dorian-related insurance

claim on the airport, and whether the proceeds would go to the existing owners or the government. The likely multi-million payout would potentially be a key source of reconstruction funding, and its fate is likely to be a key point in negotiations with the GBPA and Hutchison Whampoa.

And another key consideration is whether Grand Bahama International Airport should be rebuilt on its existing site, or relocated, in a bid to improve its resilience to hurricanes and other natural disasters given that it has flooded three times in about seven years.

The decision last week

by Grand Bahama Airport Company, which is owned 50/50 by Hutchison and the GBPA, the former having management control, to layoff 11 staff with fears of more to come was interpreted by many Freeport residents and businesses as a further signal the current owners are not prepared to make the necessary investment to restore the asset.

The GBPA and its owners, the Hayward and St George families, in particular have been criticised for failing to fulfill their development obligations as Freeport’s quasi-governmental authority by not taking the lead over the airport’s rebuilding.

Magnus Alnebeck, the Pelican Bay resort’s general manager, earlier this week told Tribune Business: “I hope there are some serious conversations going on in the background, and the government is saying: ‘Enough is enough’.

“It can’t continue like this.

We can’t have Grand Bahama without an airport, and that’s what it looks like at the moment. What I understand is that when there are two to three flights on the ground at

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that MELVIN DEON ESTIME of Lewis Yard, P.O.Box F-40771 Freeport, Grand Bahama is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 17th day of January 2020 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that GERTRUDE ALCEST GERARDof Pinewood, Nassau, Bahamas, is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 24th day of January 2020 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

Board Certified Dematologist 15 years Clinical experience including Mohs surgery

Submit Resume to Hr@familymedicinecenter.org

Friday, January 24, 2020, PAGE 5

the same time, this temporary like-barracks [terminal] is incapable of dealing with it.”

And Carey Leonard, the Callenders & Company attorney, added: “It is clear the Haywards and St Georges don’t know what they’re doing, and Hutchison’s interest is to get out.

“I do believe the government can make it work, but they have to act and they have to act now to take both the harbour and the airport. If the government takes control of that infrastructure, it will find itself in a much stronger and more able position to make Freeport’s economy work.”

Given that the ITM/Royal Caribbean project’s projected build-out will take 21-24 months, the Government will effectively have around two years to ensure Grand Bahama International Airport is rebuilt following its devastation by Hurricane Dorian’s storm surge.

Securing sufficient international airlift will be vital to the success of a development that is promising to create 2,000 jobs and bring two million extra passengers to Freeport per year in a “game changer” that could rescue the city’s stopover tourism industry and wider economy.

While a temporary terminal and associated facilities have been put in place, international airlines - especially American Airlines and its connectivity to Miami have yet to resume service to Grand Bahama, which is currently reliant on a combination of Bahamasair, Silver Airways, Sunwing and Western Air for domestic and international airlift. There is also no indication when US pre-clearance will return.

Multiple observers have argued that Freeport’s industrial sector and whole economic model will be undermined without a restored airport.

Caribbean rating agency entering Bahamas market FROM PAGE ONE

agency, which has made The Bahamas the 15th country in which it operates, could potentially give the local corporate market access to a broader pool of lower cost capital - including US dollars - by introducing them to investors across the Caribbean.

Its work also holds the possibility of providing Bahamian investors with greater transparency and more accurate risk assessments around the investment they may be considering, and may provide greater comfort in deciding whether to part with funds.

With the Central Bank approval placing it on the same footing as the likes of Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) and Fitch, Mr Dass said CariCRIS could also conduct credit assessments for Bahamas-based banks to determine the capital adequacy buffers they require to meet the Basle II and III accords’ credit risk standards.

He added that the Bahamian banks he met with last year were “very supportive and excited” about CariCRIS’ plans to enter the Bahamian market, and he is now planning a follow-up trip in February 2020 to give a more formal introduction now Central Bank approval has been received.

Disclosing that it took about a year to complete the regulator’s process, Mr Dass said greater transparency and information was

PUBLIC NOTICE

“exactly what we are going to be providing and bringing to the table” for the Bahamian capital markets.

“I think we can play a major role in helping the corporate issuers in The Bahamas,” he told Tribune Business. “I think we could play a very important role in helping the local market, and particularly the corporate bond market in The Bahamas, to develop as we can work with corporates to tap the capital markets at lower cost and make them more competitive locally, regionally and internationally.

“We rate on a regional scale, and although investors are sitting in other countries like Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad, they are looking for other investments and to diversify their portfolios.

We would help issuers in The Bahamas attract capital from other countries in the Caribbean based on our Caribbean-scale ratings.

“We can cause a lot of capital, US dollars, to flow into The Bahamas and help with the raising of funding for expansion purposes, which has the knock-on effect of increased employment for the Bahamian people.”

It is likely that Bahamas-based companies would still likely have to seek Central Bank foreign exchange approval to raise capital beyond this nation’s borders, but the regulator has recently been on a drive to gradually liberalise, or relax, such restrictions.

The absence of a credit rating agency has created a critical gap in

Bahamian capital markets infrastructure. Before CariCRIS arrival, there was no independent source to provide standardised reviews of corporate and debt issue creditworthiness in The Bahamas, which may have resulted in some companies having to pay investors a higher premium (interest rate) than warranted.

Some bond offerings, especially from private companies not listed on BISX, will also have been difficult to place due to the absence of information on their financial performance.

Hillary Deveaux, the former Securities Commission executive director who now chairs Sebas Bastian’s Investar Securities, last year said the absence of a credit rating agency meant some investments were “a crap shoot”.

He explained that the absence of a credit rating agency made it harder to properly assess the risk presented by investing in Bahamian companies, and said: “We don’t have investment grade. We don’t have rating agencies; that’s one of the challenges we have.

Sometimes, it’s a crap shoot.”

Mr Dass yesterday said CariCRIS saw itself as “understanding the Caribbean market a little more” than the major international rating agencies, while its operational costs and “economies of scale” meant it was also able to rate the “smaller companies” that makeup 80-90 percent of most regional economies.

PUBLIC NOTICE

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL

The Public is hereby advised that I, JORDAN TARIQ DEAN of New Providence, Bahamas, intend to change my name from JORDAN TARIQ DEAN to JORDAN TARIQPICKSTOCK. If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Deputy Chief Passport Officer, P.O.Box N-742, Nassau, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.

The Public is hereby advised that I, JUSTIN JOHNATHAN ROLLE of Ruby Avenue, Westwood Village Subdivision, P.O.Box N-7525 New Providence, Bahamas, intend to change my name from JUSTIN JOHNATHAN ROLLE to JUSTIN JOHNATHAN KNOWLES. If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Deputy Chief Passport Officer, P.O.Box N-742, Nassau, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.

NOTICE

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that JEAN SIMON ALCE of Pinewood, Nassau, Bahamas, is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 24th day of January 2020 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that DIANNA JOSEPH of Fort Lauderdale, is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 24th day of January 2020 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

PAGE 6, Friday, January 24, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Sixty percent of firms say workforce ‘uncompetitive’ FROM PAGE ONE with a lack of soft and technical skills, plus the absence of relevant experience, also posing a major problem.

And only just over ten percent of respondents viewed The Bahamas’ workforce training initiatives as

a success, highlighting the disconnect between the government’s efforts and the private sector’s needs.

Still, almost 59 percent of companies responding to the survey said they were able to retain employees who met their needs.

LEGAL NOTICE

NOTICE International Business Companies Act (No. 46 of 2000)

LAUDANO LTD. Registration Number: 147361 B

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act, 2000 notice is hereby given that LAUDANO LTD., has been dissolved and has been struck off the Register of Companies with effect from the 23rd day of December, 2019.

Mr Goudie, who was part of a panel discussion on the findings, said he felt “positive” that efforts were being made to tackle The Bahamas’ workforce inadequacies and skills gaps even though he acknowledged the task is a daunting one.

“We know we have a challenge and everybody admits that,” he told Tribune Business. “Nothing was surprising. We need to move forward, but at least we had everybody there saying: ‘Let’s do this’.

“We needed to open the dialogue and that’s what we did today. It was very beneficial and we really got to hear some of the strides we are making, especially in the maritime. I think the main takeaway was we’re all striving to do the right thing and work with BTVI, the Ministry of Education and University of The Bahamas to make progress in our employment industry.”

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

____________________________ GSO CORPORATE SERVICES LTD. Liquidator

Bahamas must be an ‘Atlantic tiger’ over arbitration FROM PAGE ONE arbitration can be used not just to “broaden and improve the society”, but also “makes business easier”, Dr Maynard added: “The Bahamas being lowered in the ease of doing business rankings to 119, one of the criteria they use is the accessibility to arbitration and ADR. “I’m pleased that this is gaining more and more traction as it is being developed. It has been on the books in various agencies but they don’t seem to use it. But they are starting to use it more and more, thanks in partly through the efforts of the summit.

“In the maritime sector, for example, the cruise ships are now largely through the efforts of the summit settling their disputes in The Bahamas. We have lots of cruise ships registered here but they used to take their disputes to other places. Some of them have in their collective bargaining agreements with their crew a default clause that you can have your dispute settlement take place in The Bahamas.”

Asked what makes the Bahamas “attractive” as

LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICE

NOTICE

NOTICE

International Business Companies Act

International Business Companies Act

JPJ (Sweden) Limited

MARINA HORIZONS, LTD.

Registration Number: 198709 B

Registration Number: 157859 B

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act, 2000 notice is hereby given that JPJ (Sweden) Limited., has been dissolved and has been struck off the Register of Companies with effect from the 31st day of December, 2019.

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act, 2000 notice is hereby given that MARINA HORIZONS, LTD., has been dissolved and has been struck off the Register of Companies with effect from the 23rd day of December, 2019.

(No. 46 of 2000)

(No. 46 of 2000)

____________________________ GSO CORPORATE SERVICES LTD. Liquidator

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act, 2000 notice is hereby given that WOODSON INVESTMENTS LTD., has been dissolved and has been struck off the Register of Companies with effect from the 23rd day of December, 2019.

(242) 323-2320

ALL SHARE INDEX: CLOSE: 2,233.18 | CHG: 0.12 | %CHG: 0.01 | YTD: 1.58 | YTD%: 0.07 SYMBOL AML APD BPF BWL BOB BBL CAB CIB CHL CBL CBB CWCB DHS EMAB FAM FBB FIN FCL JSJ

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

Cable Bahamas Series 6 Cable Bahamas Series 8 Cable Bahamas Series 9 Cable Bahamas Series 10 Colina Holdings Class A Fidelity Bank Class A Focol Class B

CAB6 CAB8 CAB9 CAB10 CHLA FBBA FCLB

PREFERENCE SHARES

1.00 10.00 1.00

1.00 10.00 1.00

CORPORATE DEBT - (percentage pricing) 52WK HI 100.00

52WK LOW 100.00

115.92 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

104.79 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

SECURITY Fidelity Bank Note 22 (Series B) +

SYMBOL FBB22

Bahamas Note 6.95 (2029) BGS: 2015-1-3Y BGS: 2014-12-5Y BGS: 2015-1-5Y BGS: 2014-12-7Y BGS: 2015-1-7Y BGS: 2014-12-30Y BGS: 2015-1-30Y BGS: 2015-6-3Y BGS: 2015-6-5Y BGS: 2015-6-7Y BGS: 2015-6-30Y BGS: 2015-10-3Y BGS: 2015-10-5Y BGS: 2015-10-7Y

BAH29 BG0203 BG0105 BG0205 BG0107 BG0207 BG0130 BG0230 BG0303 BG0305 BG0307 BG0330 BG0403 BG0405 BG0407

BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT STOCK - (percentage pricing)

LAST CLOSE 3.35 17.43 6.00 6.68 2.30 1.62 3.51 11.61 6.00 4.45 6.49 3.53 4.60 11.11 7.60 15.05 9.33 3.80 15.20

CLOSE 3.35 17.43 6.00 6.68 2.30 1.62 3.51 11.61 6.00 4.45 6.49 3.58 4.60 11.20 7.60 15.05 9.33 3.80 15.20

CHANGE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.05 0.00 0.09 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

CLOSE 100.00

CHANGE 0.00

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

LAST SALE 100.00 107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

International Business Companies Act (No. 46 of 2000)

Registration Number: 79164 B

BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES SECURITY AML Foods Limited APD Limited Bahamas Property Fund Bahamas Waste Bank of Bahamas Benchmark Cable Bahamas CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank Colina Holdings Commonwealth Bank Commonwealth Brewery Consolidated Water BDRs Doctor's Hospital Emera Incorporated Famguard Fidelity Bank Finco Focol J. S. Johnson

NOTICE

GSO CORPORATE SERVICES LTD. Liquidator

(242) 323-2330

52WK LOW 3.35 20.91 5.50 5.38 1.60 0.67 2.00 9.50 5.60 3.95 6.45 2.35 1.76 8.00 6.30 12.15 6.80 3.01 13.50

LEGAL NOTICE

WOODSON INVESTMENTS LTD.

www.bisxbahamas.com

52WK HI 4.45 22.65 7.00 6.70 2.60 2.00 5.47 12.00 6.17 4.50 11.01 2.81 5.06 10.21 7.90 16.99 9.40 3.80 15.20

an arbitration centre, Dr Maynard said: “We have professionals who can handle this, and I’m not just talking about lawyers, but we have other professionals like accountants and architects and quantity surveyors and the maritime specialists as well.

Identifying Freeport as an “ideal place” to have an arbitration centre, Dr Maynard, who is also a law professor at the University of The Bahamas (UB), said: “The UB is fully behind the idea of an arbitration institute.

“We’re looking at setting up an ADR institute at UB, and a centre as well. I hope we will be a lot closer by virtue of the summit, because presently we are working on having all parties buy-in to a centre.

So I’m hoping it can take place within the year, if not sooner. I’m hoping it can actually take place by summer.”

Indicating that the initiative is times to coincide with the new Supreme Court rules to be announced by chief justice, Sir Brian Moree QC, the ex-Bar

____________________________

MARKET REPORT THURSDAY, 23 JANUARY 2020

DR PETER MAYNARD

Association president added: “I’m hoping that the centre will be in place by then. I’m thinking it can be done before the chief justice announces the new rules in April.

“We just need the buy-in by everyone to the single centre. We have the documentation prepared for it. We are also thinking of setting it up as a company limited by guarantee, a nonprofit entity that all parties can sign on to. That’s very important because people need to have confidence in the centre.”

Calling on The Bahamas to get the “legislation hurdle behind us”, Dr Maynard said: “We have the 2009 Arbitration Act, and then there is another one that has been tabled.

The first Act was not internationally compliant and recognisable by countries around the world.”

He added: “In the interim, CARICOM has assembled a group of experts. We looked at this question as a recommendation from the entire CARICOM, and there is a draft which suggests just one regime has already been declared internationally compliant.”

Calling for uniformity in the legislation that would combine international arbitration with domestic needs, Dr Maynard said, “I’m disappointed that the CARICOM document has really not been looked at

by The Bahamas as yet, even though other regional governments have gotten together and it appears that the other countries will be adopting the CARICOM model.”

VOLUME

VOLUME

EPS$ 0.239 0.932 1.760 0.369 0.070 0.000 -0.438 0.722 0.449 0.184 0.140 0.102 0.467 0.646 0.728 0.816 0.939 0.203 0.631

DIV$ 0.170 1.260 0.000 0.260 0.000 0.020 0.000 0.720 0.220 0.120 0.000 0.434 0.060 0.328 0.240 0.540 0.200 0.120 0.610

P/E 14.0 18.7 N/M 18.1 N/M N/M -8.0 16.1 13.4 24.2 46.4 35.1 9.9 17.3 10.4 18.4 9.9 18.7 24.1

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

YIELD 5.07% 7.23% 0.00% 3.89% 0.00% 1.23% 0.00% 6.20% 3.67% 2.70% 0.00% 12.12% 1.30% 2.93% 3.16% 3.59% 2.14% 3.16% 4.01% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 6.25% 7.00% 6.50%

INTEREST Prime + 1.75%

MATURITY 19-Oct-2022

6.95% 4.00% 4.25% 4.25% 4.50% 4.50% 6.25% 6.25% 4.00% 4.25% 4.50% 6.25% 3.50% 3.88% 4.25%

20-Nov-2029 30-Jul-2018 16-Dec-2019 30-Jul-2020 15-Dec-2021 30-Jul-2022 15-Dec-2044 30-Jul-2045 26-Jun-2018 26-Jun-2020 26-Jun-2022 26-Jun-2045 15-Oct-2018 15-Oct-2020 15-Oct-2022

YTD% 12 MTH% 3.06% 3.81% 1.91% 3.39% 2.23% 2.75% 4.99% 6.20% 7.18% -0.08% 3.93% 3.93% 6.38% 6.38% 4.50% 4.50% 7.96% 7.96% 11.57% 11.57% 18.35% 18.35% 5.17% 5.17% 15.86% 15.86% 5.67% 5.67% 3.40% 3.40% N/A N/A 10.80% 2.60% 10.40% -4.00%

NAV Date 31-Oct-2019 31-Oct-2019 25-Oct-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2019

____________________________ GSO CORPORATE SERVICES LTD. Liquidator LEGAL NOTICE

NOTICE International Business Companies Act (No. 46 of 2000)

Deal Marketing Inc. Registration Number: 200579 B Pursuant to the provisions of Section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act, 2000 notice is hereby given that Deal Marketing Inc., has been dissolved and has been struck off the Register of Companies with effect from the 23rd day of December, 2019. ____________________________ GSO CORPORATE SERVICES LTD. Liquidator

MUTUAL FUNDS 52WK HI 2.27 4.32 2.08 194.86 158.57 1.66 1.85 1.76 1.20 8.34 10.26 6.94 12.01 12.35 10.74 10.00 8.98 11.79

52WK LOW 1.67 3.04 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.60 1.74 1.69 1.12 6.41 7.62 5.66 8.65 10.54 9.57 9.88 8.45 11.20

FUND CFAL Bond Fund CFAL Balanced Fund CFAL Money Market Fund CFAL Global Bond Fund CFAL Global Equity Fund Leno Preferred Income Fund Leno Growth Fund Leno Diversified Fund Leno Global USD Bond Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Secured Balanced Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Targeted Equity Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Prime Income Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Equities Sub Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - High Yield Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Alternative Strategies Fund Colonial Bahamas Fund Class D Colonial Bahamas Fund Class E Colonial Bahamas Fund Class F

NAV 2.27 4.32 2.08 193.72 158.42 1.66 1.85 1.76 1.20 8.34 10.23 6.94 12.01 12.35 10.73 N/A 8.98 11.40

MARKET TERMS

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX - 19 Dec 02 = 1,000.00 52wk-Hi - Highest closing price in last 52 weeks 52wk-Low - Lowest closing price in last 52 weeks Previous Close - Previous day's weighted price for daily volume Today's Close - Current day's weighted price for daily volume Change - Change in closing price from day to day Daily Vol. - Number of total shares traded today DIV $ - Dividends per share paid in the last 12 months P/E - Closing price divided by the last 12 month earnings

YIELD - last 12 month dividends divided by closing price Bid $ - Buying price of Colina and Fidelity Ask $ - Selling price of Colina and fidelity Last Price - Last traded over-the-counter price Weekly Vol. - Trading volume of the prior week EPS $ - A company's reported earnings per share for the last 12 mths NAV - Net Asset Value N/M - Not Meaningful

30-Sep-2019

LEGAL NOTICE

NOTICE International Business Companies Act (No. 46 of 2000)

Plain Management Bahamas Ltd.

30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019

Registration Number: 198709 B Pursuant to the provisions of Section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act, 2000 notice is hereby given that Plain Management Bahamas Ltd., has been dissolved and has been struck off the Register of Companies with effect from the 31st day of December, 2019. ____________________________

TO TRADE CALL: CFAL 242-502-7010 | ROYALFIDELITY 242-356-7764 | COLONIAL 242-502-7525 | LENO 242-396-3225 | BENCHMARK 242-326-7333

GSO CORPORATE SERVICES LTD. Liquidator

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, January 24, 2020, PAGE 7

First stage of extradition hearing for top Huawei exec ends VANCOUVER Associated Press A CANADIAN judge said yesterday she will announce her decision at a later date after ending the first phase of an extradition hearing that will decide whether a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei is sent to the United States.

This week’s hearings dealt with the question of whether the US charges against Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei’s founder, are crimes in Canada as well. Her lawyers argued the case is really about US sanctions against Iran, not a fraud case. They maintain since Canada does not have similar sanctions against Iran, no fraud occurred.

Canada arrested Huawei’s chief financial officer in December 2018 at Vancouver’s airport at the request of the US as she was changing flights.

The US Justice Department accuses Huawei of using a Hong Kong shell company to sell equipment to Iran in violation of US sanctions. It says Meng, 47, committed fraud by misleading the HSBC bank about the company’s business dealings in Iran.

On Wednesday, Canadian Department of Justice lawyer Robert Frater told Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes that fraud is at the heart of the case and by lying to the bank, Meng put the bank at risk.

Frater said sanctions were the reason for the meeting with the bank, but it is the alleged misrepresentation that matters to the United States.

Huawei is the biggest global supplier of network gear for cellphone and internet companies. Washington is pressuring other countries to limit use of its technology, warning they could be opening themselves up to surveillance and theft.

China and the US reached a “Phase 1” trade agreement last week, but most analysts say any meaningful resolution of the main US allegation — that Beijing uses predatory tactics in its drive to supplant America’s technological supremacy — could require years of MENG WANZHOU, chief financial officer of Huawei, is flanked by security as she leaves BC Supreme Court in Vancouver, yesterday. Wanzhou is in court for hearings over an American request to extradite the executive of the Chinese telecom giant Huawei on fraud charges. Photo: Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press/AP But defense lawyer Scott Fenton said Thursday when the federal government asked a judge to issue an arrest warrant for Meng in 2018, the documents focused on the US sanctions driving the risk to HSBC. Fenton said now the federal government is telling a different story.

“The court is being embarrassed,” Fenton said.

“There can be no fraud here because all risk to HSBC is based on underlining US sanctions risk which cannot exist in Canada.”

Homes said she would reserve her decision.

If the judge rules that what Meng is charged with is not a crime in Canada, Meng will be free to leave Canada.

Meng, who is free on bail and living in one of the two Vancouver mansions

she owns, waved to the public on the way in the courtroom.

The second phase of her extradition hearing, scheduled for June, will consider defense allegations that Canada Border Services, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the FBI violated Meng’s rights while collecting evidence before she was actually arrested.

Beijing views Meng’s case as an attempt to contain China’s rise. Huawei represents China’s progress in becoming a technological power and has been a subject of US security concerns for years.

Meng denies the US allegations.

The US Department of Justice has stressed that Meng’s case is separate from the wider China-US trade dispute.

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

contentious talks.

In apparent retaliation for Meng’s arrest, China detained former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor. The two men have been denied access to lawyers and family and are being held in prison cells where the lights are kept on 24 hours a day.

China has also placed restrictions on various Canadian exports to China, including canola oil seed and meat. Last January, China also handed a death sentence to a convicted Canadian drug smuggler in a sudden retrial.

VACANCY Law firm is immediately seeking a detail oriented, hands-on individual to fill the post of a Junior Accountant. The qualified candidate must have a minimum of Associates degree in Accounting and 3 years’ experience. Responsibilities include, but not limited to, creating invoices, performing general accounting functions and preparing bank reconciliations. The candidate must work well independently, take initiative, be a team player, and have excellent organization and communication skills in addition to Excel and Quickbooks skills.

Salary commensurate with experience and qualifications Attractive benefits Only applicants with the above criteria need apply Reply in confidence to: arclerkvacancy@gmail.com

PAGE 8, Friday, January 24, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Questions linger over investigation into Jeff Bezos’ hacking DUBAI Associated Press CYBERSECURITY experts said yesterday there were still many unanswered questions from an investigation commissioned by Jeff Bezos that concluded the billionaire’s cellphone was hacked, apparently after receiving a video file with malicious spyware from the WhatsApp account of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince.

The experts said the evidence in the privately commissioned report does not show with certainty that Bezos’ phone was actually hacked, much less how it was compromised or what kind of malware was used.

The report on the investigation, which was managed

by FTI Consulting and overseen by Anthony Ferrante, a former head of the FBI’s Cyber Division, was made public on Wednesday.

In it, investigators said a digital forensic review concluded with “medium to high confidence” that Bezos’ phone was compromised via malware sent from a WhatsApp account used by Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Two UN experts issued their own take on the report’s findings, calling on the US to investigate further. They said it appeared the Amazon founder may have been targeted because of his ownership of The Washington Post, which was publishing reports critical of the crown prince by columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Khashoggi was killed

by Saudi agents inside the kingdom’s consulate in Turkey in October 2018, five months after Bezos’ phone was apparently hacked.

The report’s conclusions drew heavily from the unusually high volume of data that left Bezos’ iPhone X within 24 hours

AMAZON CEO Jeff Bezos. Cybersecurity experts said yesterday, there are many questions still unanswered from an investigation commissioned by Bezos that said the billionaire’s phone was hacked, apparently after receiving a video file with malicious spyware from the WhatsApp account of the Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. of receiving the video file from Prince Mohammed’s WhatsApp account on May 1, 2018, a month after the two exchanged phone numbers. The size of the file, the investigators suggested, indicated a malware payload may have been included.

The investigators said Bezos’ phone began transmitting large volumes of data — an increase of some 29,000% — after receiving the video file.

The report further pointed to messages later sent from the prince’s WhatsApp account to Bezos that showed “apparent awareness” of private information. One included a meme with a photo of a woman the report said resembled the woman Bezos was having an extramarital relationship with before going public with his divorce.

Another, sent two days

after Bezos was briefed in phone calls last February about a Saudi online campaign against him, advised the technology mogul that what he was hearing was not true. “There is nothing against you or amazon from me or Saudi Arabia,” the message said.

The report additionally pointed to Saudi Arabia’s documented use of spyware against critics and other adversaries as further potential proof.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud called the allegations “purely conjecture” and said if there was real evidence, the kingdom looked forward to seeing it.

Cybersecurity experts said that while it was likely a hack occurred, the investigation did not prove that definitively.

“In some ways, the investigation is very incomplete. … The conclusions

they’ve drawn I don’t think are supported by the evidence. They veered off into conjecture,” said Robert Pritchard, the director of UK-based consultancy Cyber Security Expert.

Similarly, the former chief security officer at Facebook, who now directs a cyber policy centre at Stanford, wrote that the report is filled with circumstantial evidence, but no smoking gun.

“The funny thing is that it looks like FTI potentially has the murder weapon sitting right there, they just haven’t figured out how to test it,” Alex Stamos wrote on Twitter.

One sticking point centered on WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption, which the report said made it “virtually impossible to decrypt contents of the downloader to determine if it contained malicious code” — meaning the

investigators could not conclude whether the video file sent from Prince Mohammed’s WhatsApp account was infected and used to hack Bezos’ phone.

Bill Marczak, a senior research fellow at Citizen Lab, disputed that assertion, saying it is possible to decrypt the contents of a WhatsApp file. In a post written for The Medium that presents ways to further the investigation, Marczak shared a link to decryption instructions and code.

The FTI investigators did not reach out to WhatsApp to seek assistance, a Facebook spokesperson said.

FTI’s Ferrante did not respond to emails and text messages seeking comment.

The company said in a statement that all FTI’s work for clients is confidential and that the company does not “comment on, confirm or deny client engagements”.

Matt Suiche, a French

entrepreneur based in Dubai who founded cybersecurity firm Comae Technologies, said the video file was presumably on the iPhone because the report showed a screenshot of it. If the file had been deleted, he said the report should have stated this or explained why it was not possible to retrieve it.

“They’re not doing that.

It shows poor quality of the investigation,” Suiche said.

Still, security professionals and the report itself said the fact that investigators failed to identify any embedded malicious code does not mean there wasn’t a hack because sophisticated spyware can erase itself, leaving no trace.

Steve Morgan, founder and editor-in-chief at Cybersecurity Ventures, a cybersecurity research firm in New York, said the report makes reasonable assumptions and speculations, but does not claim 100% certainty or proof.

“Given their detailed analysis and all of the evidence they reviewed, their conclusions are reasonable,” Morgan said. “The tools they used, including forensic software and hardware from Cellebrite, are widely acknowledged to be amongst the best available,” he said.

Theresa Payton, founder and CEO of Fortalice Solutions, said the report is credible in her opinion, but leaves some questions unanswered, including whether the crown prince’s WhatsApp account may have been hacked by a third party, meaning he was not the true attacker.

“Unless Mohammed bin Salman has a thorough forensic review of dates, times, phone logs, geocoded locations, and logins, it’ll be hard to know for sure who was behind that WhatsApp message,” she said.